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5 ways to capture more testimonials for your small business
Chris Dale • May 18, 2021
Testimonials are a key marketing tool for any business. Used effectively, they can increase your credibility and help improve sales conversion in your marketing campaigns.
But many businesses shy away from gathering testimonials from happy clients; many are just too embarrassed to ask.
However, you don’t always have to ask for them directly. If you’re too embarrassed to do this, here we provide five ways you can gather more testimonials.
1. Write down verbal testimonials or video them
Verbal testimonials are given more often than written ones. If a customer gives you great verbal feedback, ask them if you can video them on your SmartPhone or record what they said and use it as a testimonial. You can then easily transcribe their comments and use them in the marketing of your business.
2. Ask a leading question
Instead of asking for a testimonial directly, you can get them indirectly by asking your clients leading questions. Questions such as “What did you think of our service?” or “Were you happy with the turnaround time?” often lead to positive responses. Those responses can be used as testimonials. Of course, make sure you then ask the customer if they are happy for you to use their comments as a testimonial.
3. Give to receive
In business, we often have customers who are also suppliers. The “give to receive” principle is simply providing a testimonial for a supplier who in turn provides one for you. It’s sort of like good business karma. When you do provide a testimonial, more often than not the customer feels obliged to provide a testimonial as well.
4. Use customer feedback forms
Customer feedback forms are a great way to gather testimonials without having to ask directly. Simply add some leading questions to the form and include a note on the form that positive comments may be used as a testimonial.
5. Place a capture form on your website
Testimonials can easily be captured via a specific capture form on your website. You can easily create a space on your website where customers can add a testimonial that goes live once approved by you. This can work particularly well for a variety of businesses where the product is visual such as a house, pool or even printed material. You give customers the opportunity to take a photo of the work you’ve done and upload it to your site. It gives them a little bit of promotion too!
Testimonials are an important credibility builder for your business. There is a saying in business: “Visibility + Credibility = Profitability”. By gathering more testimonials, you can put your business on the fast track to greater profits – and you don’t even have to ask for them!
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Author: Chris Dale
Chris Dale is the lead marketing consultant and Managing Director of MarketingHQ. He is a Certified Practising Marketer with over 25 years marketing experience.
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